A defining feature of outdoor cycling is the uncertainty of the open road. On a new route, we never know exactly what will happen. The road makes each ride unique, especially since we move so fast and so far.
That visual excitement has been missing from indoor cycling -- until now.
The video/indoor cycling combination is currently being explored by a dozen or more businesses in an effort to enhance indoor-cycling workouts. Some videos show an instructor sitting on an indoor cycle, leading a class. Some present a continuous “flow” of road that simulates the view from a bike. This simulated view, called forward-motion video, is presently used by some instructors to punch-up their classes. It can also be accompanied by a voiceover to provide a workout with no instructor, much like the instructor-on-a-bike videos.
Consumer demand for this has been growing for several years and impacts all of us who teach indoor cycling.
Use of video by a well-trained instructor is likely to improve the virtual-cycling experience the most. In considering the addition of video to our classes, let”™s remember that Virtual Reality, or virtuality, is not new to indoor cycling. Even without the visuals, we”™ve taken our students on simulated rides “outside” the studio since 1995. Creating a ride through guided imagery, words, voice tone, lighting and world music (rather than “workout music”) is the instructor”™s job — it”™s what makes indoor cycling different from other fitness classes.
Still, adding video sparks worry. Some instructors call it over-stimulation. Some say it”™s unnecessary, costly, hard to run. Some are afraid they”™ll lose their jobs to it. Still others react to poor video quality, not enough new video being produced, DVDs with the same ride every time, or too much equipment to operate.
I like to return to what we always intended to do in our classes: engage our students in an indoor version of what it”™s like to ride a bike. Video can help us do that. Imagine the thrill of powering your bike at 30 mph on a desert road in Arizona, not just in your mind, but big-as-life on a screen. How about dancing on the pedals as the bike floats up the Alpe d”™Huez?
Concerns about quality are valid. Most cycling videos on the market are made either by cycling professionals with amateur media skills, or by low-budget producers with semi-professional tools, none of whom have resources for creating the massive library necessary to sustain entertainment over hundreds of sessions. But professionalism and genius can create exciting virtual-cycling adventures.
2012 will introduce technological leaps in production and delivery that will propel virtuality to new levels. We”™ll see:
- Specialized filming that simulates the way a rider's eyes see the road, e.g., leading into a turn prior to the actual turn of the bike.
- Post-production tools to eliminate vibrations and shakiness in the image.
- High-def displays, using big-screen projection.
- Increased production budgets for greater depth and variety.
- Media consoles to make use and non-use of video a flexible and easy instructor choice.
- Compelling virtual rides that combine high-quality video and audio with voiceovers by top master instructors.
For decades, Hollywood has created magic though expert filming and post-production. Virtual-cycling can create equally powerful and moving experiences, especially when directed by a trained professional. Rather than being a threat to our jobs, it”™s an exciting step forward that will make us better at what we do. I”™m eager to pass along what I”™m learning about it.
I”™m proud to be associated with the industry leaders in this area -- Indoorcycling Group and Virtual Active - See a Sample Here.
Next week”™s post will cover how we can use cycling video and coach with it effectively.
Originally posted 2011-12-05 05:16:34.
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There seems to be a run on these types of virtual ride companies popping up. They leave me a little confused as to the application. This one looks like it comes with some kind of console that you pick your ride. Also appears to have its own instructor training program. I regularly use video in my classes but its mostly recorded pro-cycling races. My members love having them.
BTW. The visual on the promotional ad is beautifully done. Kudos to the production company .
Thanks for leaving a comment Sandra. The application of video to our classes will become clear in my next article. You are right that one of the technology leaps that will occur in 2012 is that a “media console” will become the delivery system for the video as opposed to a DVD player. The DVD player is not programmable and does not let you select sections of road on demand. The console will have libraries of road segments that you can call up on a touch screen. For instance, you open your class as you usually do without any video. You may talk about the feeling of riding your bike on a flat desert road. Your playlist moves into Alone by Moby and you access “Flats” on your touch screen and bring up a 10 minute pancake flat road on a desert highway through Arizona. The immersion of the class into the experience is greatly magnified.
Also, the media console will provide high def. On a large screen with projection, it will be like you are really there. DVD players typically display only standard definition. Blue Ray is an HD DVD but no one is producing them for cycling videos yet because they are so expensive. Even with Blue Ray, the programmability of a DVD is extremely limited. You are basically stuck with the same sequence of road every time you play it.
Thanks for reading.